To answer your question, no. The world has not come to an end.
We’ve taken three steps forwards towards a rational health care program.
And we’ve taken two steps back by caving in to the murderous goniffs who run the pharma and insurance industries. Our so-called “free enterprise” health care system is heavily funded by the taxpayers through massive deductions for employer-provided health care.
Even before the recession a little over half of all bankruptcies were due to overwhelming medical costs. And at least 45,000 Americans die every year due to lack of medical coverage. We pay, on average six to eight times what Europeans do for exactly the same drugs coming off exactly the same assembly line. Every one of these things is unthinkable anywhere else in the industrialized world.
All other developed countries some variation on the Beveridge or Bismarck systems.
Under the Beveridge model the government is the sole insurer. Everyone pays into a common fund. The government pays the doctors and clinics directly. Most doctors and hospitals are owned by the government
Under the Bismarck model there are insurance companies. But they are non-profit by law. They cannot deny coverage to anyone. They are heavily regulated in every aspect of their business. Those who cannot afford health insurance are subsidized by the government
The United States is the only country with lightly-regulated private insurance companies which can deny or arbitrarily set rates and decide what will or will not be covered. We pay more for and get less health care than any developed country. Under our “free market” system insurance is already heavily subsidized by the taxpayer. The VA, Medicare and pretty much any government-run system in the world have about 3% overhead and 2% lost to waste and fraud. The private insurance industry averages 35% overhead and profit and about 10% waste and fraud according to its own accounts.
Under the law the US just passed we have private insurance companies with very little regulation and no government control over rates. It will probably be slightly better than what we had before. It will still be far worse than what any European nation, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, most of South America, Israel or a growing number of others has.